LONDON- The Go-Ahead Group, one of the country’s largest transport operators, is to partner with eight small companies to develop a raft of innovative new services for passengers.
FTSE250-listed Go-Ahead will team with the businesses as part of its landmark transport accelerator programme, which supports the development of some of the UK’s most innovative start-up and scale-up business in the sector.
The accelerator programme is branded the Billion Journey Project in recognition of the annual number of passenger journeys on Go-Ahead’s trains and buses around the world.
Contracts were awarded to:
Axon Vibe – A smart journey planning service that provides personalised real-time transport updates across a range of modes of transport
FAIRTIQ – A smartphone-based contactless ticketing service that allows passengers to use a range of transport on a sole virtual pass
Route Reports- An intelligent service allowing transport operators to monitor road conditions, on-board environments and passenger numbers
Ordoo – A mobile phone ordering app that allows customers to order and pay for food and drink ahead of their arrival, saving time and offering perso
nalised loyalty rewards
Citi Logik- An information service that helps passengers understand how busy their services are likely to be both before and after their boarding
iGeolise – API that makes location-based data searchable by travel time rather than distance
Enterprise Bot – An artificial intelligence platform that can resolve roughly 60% of inbound customer enquiries
Dovu- A blockchain based rewards system that allows passengers
to redeem tokens earned by using public transport services Axon Vibe were crowned winner of the cohort by judges, while FAIRTIQ came up trumps in a vote among participants.
The announcement marks the culmination of an eight-week process, which saw participants provided with support from the transport operator including access to Go-Ahead data, insights from industry experts and office space.
The Billion Journey Project is unique in the transport industry and part of Go-Ahead’s efforts to improve customer experience through innovative new offerings.
Previous winners have included Airportr, which allows airline passengers to check in their baggage from home, with special ticketing offers planned for passengers of Go-Ahead’s Gatwick Express service.
The accelerator also generated a “life-changing” app for disable
d transport users, which went on to win a contract for national rollout across the UK’s railways in 2018. David Brown, Go-Ahead Group Chief Executive said, “I am delighted that Go-Ahead is working with these great innovators to deliver exciting new services and benefits for passengers across our rail and bus services.
“With our passengers taking over one billion journeys a year, it is important that we are always looking at how we can better meet and exceed their c
hanging needs. The quality of the businesses we have worked with through the Billion Journey Project has been was extremely high, and I hope it is a great indication of where the future of the transport industry is headed.”